The Romantic Road in Germany is a popular tourist route that spans 220 miles (350km) between Wurzburg and Fussen. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is one of the oldest and most historic of the medieval towns along the Romantic Road and it is only a 2 hours drive from Frankfurt. You could also take a train from Frankfurt main station to Rothenburg.

It appears that the notion of a “Romantic Road” was a post World War II marketing concept, originally aimed to American soldiers to foster them to bring their families to Germany for a vacation. Wonder why? Eventually the concept caught on with a wider audience.  

Quite honestly, I found that the road itself is not as scenic as it claims, particularly no more Alps can be seen. For a very long distance, we drove on this non fascinating motorway. So, I think it is the towns that dating back approximately 1000 years that are the attractions in the area, not the ‘road” that connects them.

This was the day we would need to drive the longest hours of all days, before we could arrive Rothenburg Town. Husband estimation it would take us 3 hours ! Gosh.

Around 12.30 noon time, finally we reached Rothenburg town. Looking at the sky, even a half blind could tell it’s going to rain very soon.
Romantic Rothenburg Germany Gate
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, considered one the best-preserved medieval towns in Germany. The city is a modestly sized old town, complete with encircling wall and gated towers, is one of the most popular stops on the Romantic Road.  
After sitting in the car for a long time, it feels great being outside again.
Checking the map to see if this is the right way
The gate to the center
Yeap, this is the right way
My first impression about this town : it looks very old, but it seems to fit the word romantic perfectly.
Along the street are city walls, towers, half-timbered houses, hidden monasteries, souvenir stores, restaurants and romantic hotels.
Nice to have a cup of coffee here.
The time is 1.14 pm. Captured perfectly by this clock tower.
This is the characteristic landmark which appears in many of the Rothenburg’s postcard.

One of the shop that sells mini bears, got mama-bear, papa-bear, baby-bear, very cutie. Also, mini puppets that were hanging there.


We stopped at a shop that sells ball-shape biscuit. Husband said that’s Schneeballen, the famous delicacy in Rothenburg. We walked in the shop happily to select our schneeballen.

Romantic Rothenburg Germany Schneeballen
There got many different types of schneeballen for one’s selection. I stood there for quite some time to look for my favourite ball.
Some with nuts, some with chocolate topping….too many. The appearance of schneeballen is very appealing, make my saliva drooling
End up, I choosed the original schneeballen, want to taste the original ball before I go for the new version ball. It only cost €1.3 per ball, very cheap.
The size of a schneeballen is that big. It sure is a good snack for tea break, not too sweet, crunchy outside, and soft inside.

Besides the normal size schneeballen, there also got mini size schneeballen packed in a crystal clear plastic bag for selling. Just perfect as a little something for friends. We planned to buy a few packets on the way back, since we didn’t want to carry it while still on the walk. Unfortunately, it rained very heavily on the way back. We were so messy at that time that we couldn’t find them and bring them home.  

Romantic Rothenburg Germany church
The rain by then, was getting increasingly difficult for us to walk without umbrella. So, we decided to take a break at this restaurant.

Pork Knuckle (a pig’s front leg) + potato dumplings, German’s signature dish. Although I seldom eat pork these years, I took some bites. The meat is tender and soft, taste very good too.

Surprisingly, the dish is quite cheap, €6.7 only. It’s no way we can eat such an authentical German’s dish with this price in any HK’s restaurant. We concluded that dining at a local restaurant is far more worthwhile than McDonald, in view that a normal MD’s set meal is not any cheaper (€5-6).
William’s choice : Potato noodle + bacon + salad. The most vegetarian dish I could find from the menu. The potato noodle is very delicious too, cost only €7.5. The above 2 dishes came in a very big portion, we all ate till very full. Since it was raining very heavily outside, we had to laze in the restaurant till the rain stopped.

But we couldn’t walk any longer because the rain was getting bigger again. The rain was so big that we got to take a shelter in front of building. It was totally hopeless, couldn’t walk to any where, unless we were ready to get ourselves all wet.

We have waited there for 10 minutes, until husband figured out there is a tower to walk up from this building. We climbed up the tower, hoping to get to see the town from high, only found that it had to be closed due to bad weather. Anyway, the lady keeper is kind enough to let us stayed there for a while.

Looking at the dark sky, we knew the downpour could happen at anytime. We didn’t know where else to go….Just when we planned to walk back to the car park, we spotted a museum accidentally. After paying €4 for 2 adult’s ticket (children are free for admission), we went inside quickly.

Mayor Nusch Memorial Room. Ex-Mayor Nusch is said to have saved the town from destruction by drinking almost a gallon of wine.
The wealthy and noble family.

The underground dungeon, not a pleasant environment at all. In fact, I feel very spooky down there.   The visitors are allowed to go inside one of the prisoner’s ward, and experience the torture sensation of losing all sorts of stimulation. Gosh, facing the cold-dark walls like this one, it’s only easy for one to go mentally break down.

The rain stopped when we walked back to the place we took a shelter just now. The tower that was closed is located at its top.
The air is especially fresh after the rain.  

As a medieval town, I think Rothenburg has made its peace with tourism and modernism. The town is a delightful place to visit, for its combination of the medieval ambiance and the people that operate the town. Its buildings are well kept, its stores are clean and orderly and the service in its restaurants is prompt but unrushed. Its shopkeepers and restaurateurs, take the effort to make Rothenburg an enchanting place and a worthwhile destination.

2 Responses

  1. I like their building's individual style very much. How many days u guys spent at Germany? I have a friend who love to read your blog and asked how come she never see you carrying your camera, we wonder how you could manage all these nice pictures, you must have a great set of camera 🙂

  2. We only stayed 3 days in German.

    Thanks for you and your friend's compliment. Those photos were taken with my Canon SLR 400D, not really a professional set. I was thinking to upgrade it one day lo…

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